Of Futures and of Pasts
by RaphaelsLittleSister
Summary: When a girl penguin comes to the zoo, Rico is faced with a blast from the past...and a possible romantic interest. But what if he doesn't remember her? What goes down when he and Kowalski must fight for her affection? But will there even BE a winner?
1. Chapter 1

_**Okay, first things first. I do NOT own Penguins of Madagascar, or the characters in the show. I do own Tika, the girl penguin.**_

_**So, I'm posting due to the hopes that it will go somewhere and thanks to the encouragement of **__Viviskilener4ever__** and **____From____Darkness and Light__**. Thank you guys!**_

_**Reviews will help push me to continue, everyone likes to know people are bothering to read their work. Flames will be used to cook marshmallows and hotdogs. Just remember that I am fairly new to this. I appreciate it.**_

_**Rated just to be safe, as I may include more mature themes and language in later chapters.**_

_**I will do my best to keep the characters and in-character as I can. If you have advice for me, please feel free to PM me. Thanks a bunch.**_

_**I hope you enjoy this.**_

Skipper woke up early with the use his internal clock. He hopped out of bed and picked up the air horn lying on the floor. _HONK HONK HONK! _His crew jumped up and out of bed, more startled then anything. Then they plodded over to the kitchen to get something to eat. They proceeded to do so in a groggy silence. Skipper sipped away at his coffee, Private at his tea, Kowalski taking notes while munching a fish tail and Rico…being Rico. So far it was a normal day.

The team cleaned up the table when a loud thumping noise interrupted them. Skipper reacted immediately. "Men, defensive positions. Move out topside. Let's see what's going on up there." The penguins hastened to the fishbowl entrance to the HQ. They climbed out onto the surface of the concrete island in their zoo habitat to see Alice and another worker had placed a crate on the fake floe.

The four flightless birds watched from afar as the crate was pried open and Alice tried to coax out the animal. She was having very poor luck. She glanced around and seeing that her assistant had left, she tipped the crates content into the water. Then she was gone, walking away to get ready for work. The unit slid over to the edge of the floe.

A penguin, seemingly in shock, had landed in the water. It was sinking slowly. Skipper signaled and they jumped in the water to help the newcomer. It took them longer than anticipated but they managed to drag the penguin onto the island. It was much heavier than its mass would have suggested, Kowalski's mind quickly deduced that the bird had significant muscle mass.

Fortunately the cold water appeared to have brought them to their senses. Its violet eyes darted about warily. Skipper turned to his strategist. "Kowalski, analysis"

Said penguin was already doodling away on his notepad. "Well Skipper, it appears to be female. Body language is tense, suggesting that we are observing a frightened animal. She has taken up a defensive stance, indicating that we are appearing as a threat." For a moment or two they all scrutinized the female penguin.

She had stunning purple eyes and silky feathers that possessed a hint of iridescence. The feathers on her head flopped over her forehead to form bangs and the ones around her neck looked like they lay in slightly different directions. She had a powerful but lean build; she stood a little higher than Skipper, but only came up to Rico's eye level, though it went without saying she had better posture. There was a stubborn set to her beak and a fear on her face.

"Options?"

"Well, option one is to just go about our business and let her take the first move towards interaction. Option two is to try and communicate now, to save time and possible blow ups." Kowalski looked up from his 'notes' and acknowledged his leader. "Mhh, I like option two. Execute."Skipper pushed Kowalski forward, who found he didn't know how to go about it. Private called out to him. "K'walski, say hello."

So Kowalski swallowed hard and waddled up to the newcomer. "Uh, greetings. My name is -" He caught the 'kill signal' from Skipper. "Uh, I mean. What's you name." Skipper face-palmed behind him, groaning quietly. The female penguin straightened up, looking puzzled. With what looked to be great effort she said, "Dei jzan te?" Her voice was gravelly and sounded out of place coming from the attractive bird.

"Sorry?" Kowalski blinked.

"Dei jzan te?" Again she said the words with effort and it sounded more demanding this time. The cogs in the tall penguins mind were turning at a rapid pace. He turned to Skipper. "Sir, I am 98.6% positive she does not speak English." He paused. "Permission to introduce myself?" Skipper thought for a moment. He couldn't see why not. If she was a spy it would be best to lull her into a false sense of security. He nodded his head sharply. Kowalski looked back at the stranger and stepped towards her a little more slowly.

He tapped his chest saying his name. "Kowalski" Then he gestured to her and said it again. She seemed to understand. She opened her beak and Kowalski was close enough to view the unusual serrated edges it had. A garbled noise emerged from her throat, like she was swallowing the sound. "Oohallski." He encouraged her to try again. "Kohwahlski." He nodded, seeing that she had given it her best try.

He beckoned Private forward, pointed at him, and said his name. She tried. "Pihffat" She tried again. "Prihvate"

Skipper approached and they repeated to process with him. He looked unimpressed despite her obvious strain. "Sihpeh, Skihpeh, Skippeh." That was the closest she got, though it was apparent Rico's name was the most difficult. "W-Weecuh, Wuhriicuh, Rwiicoh, Riicoh." She had an accent that warped the words trivially but she looked proud each time they nodded. She pointed to each of them. "Kohwahlski, Prihvate, Skippeh, Riicoh." The she pointed at herself and stopped, like she had forgotten her name for a second or two. But eventually she spat out something that sounded like "Ateekah!"

"Skipper tried to mimic her. "A tea can?" She shook her head and tried again, exertion inscribed on her face. "Teekah."

"Tika?" She nodded and smiled happily. "Tika" she said again in her rasping voice.

The penguins were down in the HQ, Kowalski having reminded Skipper that it was Sunday which meant the zoo opened late. They had done a few drills with Tika watching curiously from the sidelines and then had retreated away from the hot sun indoors. Tika was gazing in amazement at everything, listening to the strange words the other penguins were speaking. They rose and fell in an unfamiliar way but not unpleasantly. It was nice just to hear words again. Words…Tika thought about how the words back home sounded compared to these and wondered if she could figure out what they were saying. She tried to utter a phase in her native tongue but couldn't choke the words out. In fact it was taxing to make any noise but feral ones.

How long had it been since she had even had a reason to talk anyway? How long had it been since anyone had tried to communicate with her? A year since both of them. And she had stopped singing or really making any noises six months ago. No wonder talking was difficult. She tried again to force the words out.

"Tika rakat siia ze'sut." They were rough and the pronunciation was a bit off but they were words, words that she knew and could understand. She looked up from the floor she had begun staring at during her struggle to speak and noticed the others watching her. She muttered a curse with effort. "Maut dox Hof." The male penguins began to come towards her and she backed away fearfully.

It was then that Private noticed her limping heavily. "Skippa', look. I think she's hurt! She's limping." He pointed down at her right foot. When they tried to approach her she stumbled back. Despite the limp, now very pronounced seeming since it had been pointed out, she moved without difficulty. She was nimble and quick, and evaded them each time they moved in on her. "Men, we need to use our elite training, put it to use." Skipper faced his team. "There's no way we'll catch her unless we use force. Commence Operation: Ca- Rico, what are you doing man?"

Said penguin was edging slowly towards Tika, one flipper held in front of him in a loose but ready position. She watched him warily. He came closer and closer until the feathers on their chests were touching. She didn't move. Suddenly he picked her up in a firm but gentle hold and carried her to the medical bed Kowalski kept in his lab area. She struggled for a second or two, but there was something familiar, something safe feeling about having him carry her. Tika allowed him to sit her on the bed.

"Rico, I daresay you have the magic touch with the little lady. Kowalski, I want a full medical inspection on that leg."

"Yes sir." Kowalski saluted and pointed to her foot, her right one, and then to his eyes. "I need to look at that. Would you hold it out for me?" Tika looked up at Rico, who, for some reason even he was not aware of, was standing protectively nearby. He nodded rapidly and smiled a huge grin. She looked a bit unsettled but held her foot out to the team strategist. He inspected what was an odd deformity in the foot's structure.

She had all three toes, but the middle and innermost ones were further apart than normal, the middle toe more squashed with the toe on the out side edge of the foot. The entire foot was slightly tilted outward and the sole was curved in ward to create a depression. He also noticed that the bone in the lower part of her leg was crooked, as though it had been broken and hadn't healed properly. Kowalski put his X-ray vision glasses on to further inspect to bone structure.

After a few silent moments, he backed away to discuss what he had found with Skipper. "Sir, it appears she has a splayed toe structure and a previously broken leg. Apart from that and a few other minor deformities she seems to be fine. " Skipper looked back at the female who was now dangling her legs over the bedside, staring at the floor. "I see, will she be able to participate in team training?"

"Until I observe her further I can't be sure if her joining the team would be more of a hindrance than anything. She seems to be able to move fairly well, whether her leg would hold up under large amounts of physical stress, I'm not sure." Skipper cast the newcomer one last glance and walked away. "We'll see in the morning then, won't we?"

Tika watched him walk away and shot a miserable glare at her malformed appendage. Here were more penguins who though she was too hideous a deformity to even look at. And she thought they might be different. …But they were different. They had tried to talk to her; they had been kind to her. But none of that mattered now that they had seen her foot. She felt fat tears start to roll down her cheeks. She choked back a sob, but couldn't stop her shoulders from shaking.

Private looked at her in concern. "Tika, are you alright?" She looked up at him in amazement. He wasn't shunning her? "I'll go make you some tea. I'll be right back." The round-bellied youngster walked away and she hung her head again. A comforting flipper on her shoulder disturbed her avid floor-watching. She found herself lost in a pair of blue-green eyes that she knew she had seen before. But where…?

Rico's voice rumbled up from his chest, grating in his throat. "Kah'beh." Fresh tears sprang to her eyes; this wonderful, kind, tough-looking penguin was telling her not to cry.

_Two penguins sat in the ice cavern that was their secret getaway. One of them sighed. The other, a female, looked at him. "Did he hit you again?"_

"_No," the male turned his head away and said. "Even if he did, Seion, it wouldn't matter. He could beat me to death and no one but you would care." Seion frowned. "Taruk, that's not true. My father was very fond of you, and so is baby Noriis. People would miss you." She looked at her flippers. "They'd miss you more than they'd miss me. I'm useless." Her head rested heavily on the icy walls around her. "I'm rubbish. At least you can do things that are worth a fish." Tears leaked from her closed eyes._

_Taruk scooted closer to her and put a wing around her. "Don't talk like that, Seion. Lot's of penguins would miss you too." She shook her head and she started to sob. Her companion pulled her close. His upper body resonated gently. "Kah'beh." Seion sniffed and looked up into his eyes, she smiled a watery smile. "You're right. I'm being silly. I always make my problems yours too. I shouldn't be complaining."_

"_Shhh," he said, wiping her face. He lifted her chin so she could look at him straight. "Don't cry," he said again. "Seion, don't cry." She laughed softly and let him rock her back and forth. She didn't know why she cried when she had Taruk, the most wonderful friend she could wish for. _

Rico's coughing brought her back from the unbidden memory and a moment later he was offering her a tissue from the box he had just coughed up. She took it and wiped her streaming eyes. "Ta'tse."

She began to force the memory back into the blackness of her past, when she saw Private coming up behind Rico. She shoved the scarred penguin back and took a defensive position, a rumbling noise deep in her throat as she faced the small trainee.

Private jumped back when Tika growled. Rico on the other hand, calmly bypassed the snarling penguin and stood next to Private, who put a flipper warmly around his taller companion. "Tika, Rico friend!"

"Frrrr-frenda?" Another word she didn't know. Skipper and Kowalski came to stand next to Rico and Private. The four males shook flippers and draped them over each others shoulders. That was when Tika understood that 'friend' meant 'someone you are fond of'. It meant you weren't enemies. She gestured to herself. "Tika…fr-friend?"

The team looked at her, and they broke into broad grins all at the same time. "Yes Tika. You are our friend." She smiled at Kowalski who was nodding, something she DID understand. She was a friend! She had _friends_!

After a day of interaction and fun with the new penguin, all five of them crammed together on the couch that before had seated all four of the boys just fine. Now the phrase 'elbow room' was all but lost. Feet and flippers everywhere as they all tried to fit, watching the opening credits for a documentary on…penguins, choice courtesy of Kowalski. Tika breathed in the scent of other living beings as she sat. She didn't care that she thought the picture box called a 'TV' seemed like magic or that she couldn't understand anything being said. She cared that for the first time in months, someone had reached out to her. Now she sat with that all around her, like it had been back home. She felt almost…safe.

She watched to snowy landscaped rush past on the screen, her heart aching for home. She stared at it wistfully. "Ze'sut." Home… Home… Home… she saw her home and was powerless to go back. It hurt.

The show ended and Tika made to curl up on the floor when someone picked her up and lay her down on the now vacant sofa. A pillow was slipped under her head and a blanket draped over her. She raised her head just as they started to walk away. She fought to grind out a phrase of gratitude. "Ta'tse." The penguin stopped but didn't turn. A gruff but unmistakable "Te'shou" came back at her. Tika's head dropped and she fell into a world of dreams. The last thing she heard was someone climbing into their bunk and pulling the cover up over themselves.

Soon all five penguins were snoring softly.

_**A/N: So that was my first chapter, I hope you liked it. Again please review, flames are allowed. Until next time.**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, don't own the Penguins, and it wouldn't be a good thing if I did. I wouldn't be able to stand Skipper's paranoia, Private being so adorable, Rico blowing things up and Kowalski with his earth-destroying invention. So it's just as well.**

**This is the second chapter in the story. It is also the last chapter that I have pre-written, so it might take me a little longer to get Chap. 3 out. I'll try not to take to long.**

**Please Review, Flames still welcome. **

**I don't have anything else to say, so on with the story!**

Again Skipper was the first to rise. He looked over his team thoughtfully. They were all still fast asleep. He didn't think to look at the foreigner. What were the odds that an untrained recruit was going to be up at 0500 hours? Hmmm, that stranger was going to have to learn English if he wanted to be able to train her. Maybe Kowalski could set aside sometime after morning drills to begin teaching her. That sounded good. Yeah, that would work. And he could leave Rico with them in case the girl decided to go crazy on his scientist. Rico would be more than able to handle an attack from her, as strong as she looked.

Then, with two off his team for a while he might be able to do some recon with Private, to see if they should expect any more newcomers. Then he would at least _seem_ productive. He checked the clock. Time to start the coffee and then wake the team. He walked towards the kitchen, past the sofa when he stopped. A neatly folded blanket and pillow sat on one of the cushions. He snatched up the air horn. "Men, up up UP! Find the newbie, she can't be far. Go go GO!"

The penguins searched the HQ high and low before hopping outside. They gazed all around the floe, seeing nothing. Skipper was just about to give the order to split up and search the zoo when a flipper-full of water hit him in the back of the head. They turned. A soaking wet Tika leapt out of the water. She hit the concrete, immediately going into a roll to reduce the impact. She shook her feathers and sprayed them all.

A second later she was swimming stealthily around the floe. She slid onto the island and bumped them all into the water. Tika swam circles around them as they hauled themselves onto the solid platform. She laughed her rasping laugh and made faces, her lilac eyes twinkling merrily. Then she vaulted herself out of the water and with a graceful shake she sent one last sheet of water flying towards the crew of penguins. Rico's jaw dropped, even Skipper couldn't match the elegance she had just displayed in the water. "Whoa."

It took a moment for Skipper to compose himself but he did and his usual demeanor of authority was back in place. "Right, so here's the plan for today men … and Tika. We go through morning drills, meaning we have to get across to Tika that I want to see what she can do. After that we split up. Private, you'll be with me on recon. Kowalski, Rico, you're going to take the recruit down into HQ to teach her English. I need to be able to speak with the dame, give her instruction. Now let's start with some exercises preceding our scheduled sparring match. And will someone try and ask her to join us, please?"

Skipper's crew fell into a line with practiced ease. Rico managed to catch Tika's eye and pointed to her, beckoning for her to come enter the line. She was hesitant but a sharp word from Skipper had her moving. Even if she could only understand the vibes around him and not what he said, she got the message. She gave a sideways glance at the stocky penguin beside her. He seemed…familiar for some reason. She couldn't put a flipper on it.

She saw them all give a sharp salute and she tried to copy them as best as she could, but she was a little late. The one that seemed to be leading them, 'Skippeh', as she called him, gave her a prickly look over. He didn't look pleased. But he let it lie, if only because he had no means of communication.

The penguins that had taken her in began to go through what looked to be a strictly practiced routine of stretches. She did her best to keep up with them and was succeeding. Even Skipper looked surprised when she appeared to be keeping pace with his men. She met his icy gaze with an intensity that forced him to look away as he continued the rigorous routine. She was really getting into a rhythm when Skipper held up his flippers and said, "Stop!"That must have meant 'cease', because the others stopped what they were doing. She followed suit.

The short penguin leader had paired Private and Kowalski together. Tika found herself face to face with Rico. Skipper pulled them back and gestured first to his eyes then at Private and Kowalski. So they would watch. It was a long match by training standards, with the taller penguin having the advantage of a further reach but with Private countering with spectacular combat skills. Private finally managed to knock the strategist to the ground. "Darn it all," exclaimed the brainy penguin, "it happened again!" He and Private waddled back to Skipper, who began critiquing the match.

"Kowalski, you were thinking too much again."

"Sorry, Skipper."

"Other than that I see an improvement in your combat skills." Skipper turned to said bird. "Private, first-rate offensive maneuvers, well done, boys. Next up, Tika, Rico." He almost smirked. That newbie was going to get walloped. She may have been up before them, may have swam literal circles around them, but there was no way she was going to beat Rico. Although deep in his gut he had a feeling the match might turn out a little more interesting that he had thought.

Tika was pushed to the middle of the floe. The built penguin had already taken up a fighting position. She turned her head as Skipper called to Rico. "Oh, and no chainsaws, I want to see what she can really do." Rico nodded and Tika felt her body sliding into Warriors Poise, a pose that had her left flipper curved to protect her midsection, the right guarding her face. She waited. A slight twitch in her opponent's abdominal muscles told her he was attacking. The tension in his left flipper suggested a strike to the head and the minor loosening of the legs told her he would follow it all with a kick.

She sucked in her stomach, the first strike from his right fist whiffing past her; she blocked the head blow and grabbed his feet as he kicked. He froze. She twisted his legs sharply and let go, relaxing for a moment as he spun. His feet hit the ground and they went at it again. Right side block, knee guard, uppercut, and withdraw. Tika wiped a small bit of saliva from the corner of her beak as they stepped away from each other to catch their breath and analyze the situation. Tika's eyes darted about as she laid out a scenario in her head.

She feinted to the left with a blow and switched at the last moment to center a kick with her left foot to his chest. He stumbled back. She took the moment to use her foot to flip the fishbowl into her waiting flippers not an instant too soon. _Clang clang clang! _His balled fists connected with the metal solidly, but he didn't back down for a second. She hurried backwards, dropping the dish, blocking all his oncoming attacks, he doing likewise. She struck out with a wing and was blocked. She kicked again and Rico grabbed her foot in a death hold, spinning it the same way she had, but with more force. She hit the concrete unbalanced. He took advantage of it, pushing her to the ground to end the match.

It had been over quickly but had been impressive nonetheless. Rico had won the round, but was breathing a little heaver than usual. There was something familiar about this penguin's fighting… He would worry about it later. He helped Tika to her feet and they walked over to Skipper to receive the feedback. He was genuinely surprised to find his stomach soaring with 'butterflies' that came with adrenaline.

Skipper looked them both up and down. They were both panting slightly and Tika's leg was trembling with physical strain. But it had held up fine. "Well, Rico, good job man. I'd say you both earn full marks on this one."

Rico nodded and saluted wearily. "Take a dip, soldier." Rico jumped into the water with relief. Skipper turned to Tika. She wouldn't be able to understand his talk, but he felt he still needed to let her know he respected her, newbie or not. Because to have Rico beat you is one thing, to match his strength and skills was another, especially if you were new. He saluted briefly before turning and joining his team in the water.

Tika looked after him. He had shown her a sign of respect. She almost didn't believe it. These penguins didn't just try to talk to her, sit and spend time with her, they _respected_ her. The_ leader_ respected her. She felt more proud of herself than she had in a long time. Practically glowing she jumped into the water with her new friends. There was only one thing nagging at her mind, causing it … not concern, but something similar to it. Something was bothering her and she couldn't pin down what it was.

Once Skipper declared drills finished for the morning, Kowalski had taken Tika down to his laboratory, followed by Rico, who sat on a stool in front of a cardboard box. Tika was about to sit on the floor when he grabbed her flipper and pulled her into a chair next to his. They waited for the smarter penguin to address them.

At last he faced them. He was holding a color wheel and a paper with different facial expressions drawn on it. He laid them on the 'table' and set down some ordinary items as well. He sat down across from the other two and laid his flipper down on the color wheel. He circled the whole thing and said, "Colors."He pointed to one of them. "Blue," he said making sure she was listening. She scrunched her face and tried to repeat the word. "Buhloo, Bloo."

"Red."

"Ww—wr-red."

"Yellow."

"Lellow."

They went through each of the colors once, each word less of an effort for her. The more Tika used her voice, the smoother it became, though it didn't quite loose the gravelly tone. She also had an accent that sounded almost French; though Kowalski was sure the language she spoke was not French at all. But she made good progress. The taller penguin pointed to one of the colors and then at her. She tried her best to say it, "Owange."

Both Rico and Kowalski smiled and nodded but the female shook her head and tried again. "Oh-ohrange." She didn't look satisfied but her teacher pointed to the next color and she put her memory to the test by saying the name of each color as they went. She often tried to improve the word, but within a half an hour of repetition, she memorized all of them. The she pointed to the spoon that was sitting on the box. "Herak?"

Kowalski looked at her and held his flippers up, indicating that he didn't understand. She said the word again. "Uhh, Rico, do you understand what she's saying?"

"Titch."

"Teach?" Kowalski asked. Rico nodded and chuckled. The taller penguin looked over at Tika, she was sharp. "Spoon"

"Spun, spoon." She looked proud and her eyes glowed with joy. She 'asked' the names of one object after another and soon she was limping all over HQ, pointing to different things all around her. "Toilet."

"Toylet?" Rico had to laugh; she looked so hilarious standing by the white, bowl shaped bathroom furniture, jiggling the handle with a quizzical expression on her face. Kowalski just looked at him with one of his famous annoyed facial expressions. Tika turned her neck, causing the disturbed feathers there to part slightly. Rico furrowed his brow and reached out to touch her lower neck.

He brushed aside the feathers and revealed a thick scar that made an arc from behind the joint of her left flipper, to the middle of the lower part of her neck. "'Walski!" Skipper's strategist came over and peered at the mark. She looked down at it, and then pointed to it, curious. "Scar, Tika." She looked over Kowalski at Rico and stretched on of her wings out, as thought to touch his face. "Scar?" Rico blushed ashamedly beneath his plumage and turned to the side. "Uh huh."

Tika slid past Kowalski, who at that moment realized she smelled pleasantly of flowers. One of the female's flippers turned Rico's face back to her and the other traced its way down the blemish. "Sobo?" Rico nodded. "Hurt."

"Aww," she embraced him briefly. Then she noticed his Mohawk. She ran the bottom of her flipper over it and giggled like a little girl. Kowalski pulled out his clipboard and made a 'note' that the 'subject' appeared very childish at times. Rico squirmed und ducked away. Sensing his discomfort she suddenly wondered what she was doing. She was treating him like he was… she pushed the thought away. Tika hobbled over to the sink and gestured to it. Kowalski stifled a smile, retaining his emotionless composure. She didn't seem to get tired of learning.

An hour later she was sitting, exhausted, on the floor next to the couch. Both Private and Skipper had returned from Recon and Private was now sitting on the couch watching a show about…well, she didn't know what they were. Skipper and Kowalski were by the underwater window, locked in a fierce game of chess. She glanced over at Rico, who was lying on his bunk looking at a comic. Tika stood and limped over to him. "Tika…" she looked for a word she had learned. "Sit?" He looked up at her, and waved. Rico scooted over, she sat next to him. "Scar?" Tika pointed again to his face, softly turning it towards her.

She cocked her head to one side, clearly inquiring how he had gotten it. Rico hesitated, he didn't like to spill his guts even to his team, much less a stranger. Still, the lilac eyes were…he didn't know, all he knew was that he could trust her. "Seal." She frowned, confused? "Seal?" Rico remembered she didn't speak English. He jumped down from the bunk and acted out a leopard seal's snapping jaws, clapping his flippers right in front of Tika's face. Then he fell on his belly and flopped around like a seal on ice. Tika got the idea.

She jumped down to join him, leaning to one side to reduce the impact of her leg as she landed. "Ritgoru?" Rico heard the words and automatically translated it. _Seal cat, Leopard seal. _She understood his meaning when he said 'seal' now, and was clearly horrified. She waddled up to him, and touched the blemish again. Then she hugged him. _Seals, the scourge of the ice-lands, they cause so much pain. _She looked up into Rico's eyes, blue green like light filtering the through ice underwater. Her favorite color for one reason, was blue-green ice light._ They were the Color of Taruk's eyes. But Taruk is dead, __**I**__ should be dead, so why is 'Rico' so familiar? _

**A/N: So there was Chap. 2. I hope you enjoyed it. Again, I will try and get #3 up and running ASAP. Thanks for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay, I DO NOT own PoM at all. I'm just a fan.**

**I'm, sorry this took so long, high school has my hands full and school and the grades are my priorities. The grading scale at my school is wickedly steep, so it's keeping me on my toes about it. **

**Any ways, please R&R, if you have any suggestions, PM me or something, and I hope you enjoy.**

"Tika, would you help me with this? I need some assistance bracing the rubber band to snap the steel directional disk into place."

"Kowalski man, don't you mean 'compass?'"

"No Skipper, I mean 'steel directional disk." Kowalski was up against a large metal box, using his feet to push a rubber band out from the side of it. "Tika!" The purple eyed foreigner looked up. "Tika…Tika come!" She waddled over and wrapped her flippers around the rubber. Kowalski slid out under it and picked up a compass. The tall penguin slid it into a slot that it barely fit into. "Pull that back as far as you can and let go!" She dug her heels as best she could into the concrete floor and took a step back. She got the huge rubber band almost a foot away from the box.

_Snap!_ It hit the compass and forced it the rest of the way into the slot. "Tika do stretch right?" She asked, pushing her head feathers out of her eyes. Kowalski was already working on it again. "Yes thank you. I think Skipper had wanted to see you." She walked away, her heavy limp making her footsteps uneven sounding in to quiet HQ. "Skippeh want see Tika?" She looked over the battle positions Skipper was laying out with toy soldiers. "Oh, yeah. I think you've been her long enough that you should start coming on missions with us. That's all."

Tika's heart soared in her stomach. She had been required to stay in the HQ and penguin enclosure for the past two weeks. It got boring, knowing that the others were out doing all sorts of cool thinks, like exploring her new home. "Skippeh for real? Tika …thankful to you."

"Well sure I mean it. Of course, you'll have to take our official evaluation test first, but if you pa-" He was cut off as Tika embraced him warmly. "When take test? Soon?" Skipper dislodged her and signaled to the rest of his team, walked over. "I'll notify Kowalski. You could be out on a mission this week. Now go find something to do." She saluted, something she had learned to do very quickly. "Yes'sur!" She slid on her belly over to the bunks, the stood up. She couldn't find anything to do with the boys gone.

"Ngh, no fun." She looked around and saw a pile of dirt, most likely picked up from the lemur habitat on the floor. Her face brightened up instantaneously. "Tika clean!" She grabbed the small broom they had and swept it up. The female looked around for more to clean. Before long it turned into a full-on decorating and cleaning spree. Complete with paper flowers, pictures she found, and other feminine touches. Then she folded all the blankets in the bunk, swept, and wiped every empty surface. Finally she walked to the small fridge they had and took out a fish. She looked down and realized it was one of the special fish Skipper used in training. She put it back, sorely afraid of what would happen if she ate it.

"Skippa, how long has it been since Tika got to tha zoo again?"

"Kowalski?" The team leader addressed his strategist. "Two weeks and five days. She is now able to speak limited English and smells like the flower type 'rose'." Rico gave him a looked that clearly stated 'stop right there, you're making me sick'. Kowalski flushed beneath his feathers and said. "Almost three weeks." With that he turned towards the pretzel stand that was their target objective. "Target sighted at 3:00!" They peered out at it from behind a wall.

A woman dragged a little boy past and two kids dashed by, Alice chasing them to the gates. The penguins moved out. Sneaking five huge pretzels proved a slight problem, so they handed them all to Rico. He swallowed them quickly, and then burped. Kowalski turned away in slight disgust, but then, being a living suitcase, Rico was entitled to a few stomach issues. They hurried back to the HQ, hoping no departing human had noticed their mysterious absence. They slipped through the bars around there enclosure and slid stealthily into the water when no departing human was looking. They hurried into the fishbowl entrance.

"What in the name of Queen Elizabeth's petticoat happened here?" Skipper was strongly reminded of the time Rico went 'hippie' in an effort to please his doll girlfriend. Flowers made of colored paper and paper chains festooned the area. Everything was sparkling clean and there wasn't a loose invention, explosive, chess piece, or comic floating about. Tika jumped out of know where and before any of them could react, they were all wearing paper party hats.

"Hahaha, hello neighbors! I see de limpy penguin has been making pretty party crowns for you!" Julien hopped off the couch and jumped over to all the penguins, commenting on their colorful head pieces. "Hoho, stripes look very nice on de bossy one. Of course, I have de biggest, bestest hat! As you can see, it makes my ears look so big and volumous!"

"Hoorah for King Julien! He has big ears!" Mort was suddenly latched around Julien's feet and the pompous lemur 'king' made desperate attempts to shake him off. "Mort, get away from de royal feet dis instant!" He danced away, the mouse lemur clinging to him tight as can be. Skipper turned to his newest recruit, who was grinning would-be-ear to would-be-ear. "What's the meaning of this, soldier? I don't believe I authorized a party on these premises." Tika shook her head, still grinning. "Skippeh not, but Skippeh get one anyway!"

Tika was about to turn away when she caught Kowalski removing his hat. She tackled him. He fell to the ground with a surprised squeak. Despite being female, she had quickly upon arrival proved her superior strength to Kowalski. His own slender flippers, accustomed to delicate inventive work, had not build up the muscle his teammates had, and he was no match for the penguin pinning him to the ground now. She picked the hat up and placed it on his head, snapping the chinstrap a little harder than needed. Admitting defeat, Kowalski stood up, adjusting the hat. Satisfied, Tika answered a knock on the fishbowl above them.

Marlene, some chameleons, and other zoo animals hopped down into the HQ. Roger poked his head in through door in the concrete wall. Skipper stood stock still as he watched his high-security headquarters being flooded with civilians. Marlene had brought popcorn and her guitar, chameleons had some cool snack from their habitat, and more were arriving by the minute. His men quickly joined in the fun, Private holding polite conversation with the chimps and absently eating the sugar cubes. Rico broke out paint and easel; soon he was busy painting his fellow zoo-members. Tika took it upon herself to introduce Kowalski to a mysterious fizz drink.

In a matter of minutes they were both reduced to hiccupping, morons. "Hic, I say Tuko! Polaris is-hic-bright tonight!" Kowalski waved merrily at a passing kangaroo rat, which looked at him oddly. Tika stood up on their small table and began belting out a song in her home tongue.

"Nutara ar-hic—lo mestuah veha! Kel-hic-opr peh suu!" She was a bit unsteady looking and her pronunciations was off, but suddenly, no one could hear her errors for a rough voice singing right along with hers. "Eerla musto keh'lek nowyah, saben lookro mai…hee-eee!" Rico and Tika slung their flippers around each other, swaying in time to the song, Tika happily drunken looking. They finished the song to much applause and they climbed off the table. Well, Rico hopped, Tika fell, though she got back up so fast some doubted it even happened.

"Kowalska! Dance!" Marlene struck up the Spanish guitar as animals paired up to dance to the lively music. Tika grabbed the tall, not-quite-as-loopy penguin, and swirled him around. It didn't take long for Kowalski to assume the lead role in the dance. Together they stumbled gaily around the HQ, spinning and leaping and bending backwards. They swathed a path between the other dancers. All the animals having so much fun they didn't even notice it when Marlene stopped playing to dance with Skipper, who had reluctantly joined the party a few minutes earlier.

For an unknown amount of time, everyone kept trading off partners. It happened when Kowalski was dancing happily with Merisa, a female kangaroo rat, when he stumbled over King Julian's tail. He tripped into Tika's form and they both hit the ground with a solid 'thud'. It took him a moment to register that his beak had landed far to close to her own for comfort. Any drink induced stupor her had been under vanished the moment he realized that, in all common terms, he had kissed her, however accidental it had been.

Tika, however, was the first of them to pull away and stand, her own mind also seeming to be functioning again. "Tika…sorry." She bowed her head and reached out to help her taller comrade to his feet when she cried out in pain. She fell forward, clutching her left leg. Both Rico and Kowalski stopped her at the same time, but Rico lifted her onto the table. "Walski…" He looked worried when Tika hissed with discomfort.

All the dancers had stopped and were now gazing concernedly at the injured penguin. Kowalski felt all traces of the drink leave him for the moment as her assessed the situation. He tapped Tika's leg gently and she squawked loudly. Skipper pushed his way through the crowd and addressed his subordinate. "Well, Kowalski, what's the verdict?" Kowalski hesitated. "Come on man, spit it out!" Private appeared next to him and said, "Oh dear, I do hope she's alright."

Kowalski sighed. "She may have a broken leg. It will take a couple of weeks to heal up, if not more. We're going to need to take her into the medical center." Skipper visibly shuddered at the thought of the 'sick, needle-wielding psycho from the pits of Doom'. He spoke again to his strategist. "Are you sure, man?" He knew that when it was Kowalski he was speaking to, there was no point in asking, but he felt as though he had to. "Positive Skipper. I'm sorry."

"Don't give me 'sorrys'. Soldier, give me options." Kowalski opened his mouth but Skipper clamped it shut before he had the chance to say anything. "On second thought, just get that leg wrapped up and put her to bed. We can drop her of at the clinic in the morning." The flat-headed penguin turned to the guests. "Okay, folks, party's over! In other words, 'get out'. Tiny lemur," He addressed Mort, "Put that do-!" He jumped out of the way of a blast from an unfinished invention and tackled the mouse lemur. "Come on, while we're young here!"

After unceremoniously throwing everyone out the door, he turned back to his team. Tika's leg had been wrapped and Rico was setting her down gently on the couch where she slept. Kowalski had begun to clean up, with Private's help. Before long, they were settling into bed. Skipper didn't go to bed right away when he saw Tika sitting up on her bed. He waddled over to her. "Get some rest, Tika. You're no good to the team tired. Just think of Manfredi and Johnson. They tried staying up for a week. Both of them ended up in the hospital to recover lost brain cells due to radiation from nocturnal alien activity."

Tike looked at him oddly, and then sighed. She carefully stretched herself out on the bed and lay down. "Okay, Tika rest." Skipper nodded and stood up, leaping into his own bunk. They both dozed off quickly.

__

"_Haha! Cripple!"_

"_Stupid-head!"_

"_Useless!"_

_The violet-eyed penguin covered her ears and tried to keep the tears from leaking onto her face. "I'm not useless!" _

"_Yes you are! You're a burden. Doesn't 'Setseion' mean Burden of the Tribe?" The cruel group of birds was throwing chunks of ice at her, splattering her iridescent feathers with moisture. One hit her bent and broken leg and she squawked with pain. They advanced on her as she curled into a ball. "Wimp!"_

"_Sissy!" _

"_Weakling!"_

_A snow ball hit the ringleader in the back of the head. "Hey, jerks! Why don't you leave her alone and go beat up someone your own size?" The young male penguin was waddling towards them, another snow ball already in his flippers. Underneath the coat of feathers one could see the muscles that were there. "Why don't __**you**__ mind your own business, Blackeye?" Splat! Another chunk of snow hit the speaker in the beak as the penguin reddened angrily. "Blackeye? Why you-! C'mere, you scrawny, bare-bottomed, crack-shell excuse for a penguin!" He charged them and they dispersed fearfully, disappearing over some snow banks._

"_Over-blown windbags!" growled the newcomer. He turned to the female curled on the ground and helped her up. "Hey, my name's Taruk. What's yours?" She looked up into his blue-green eyes. "It's Setseion." His brow furrowed. "But doesn't that mean-?"_

"_Yes!" She cut him off. "Yes, and I hate it!" Taruk grinned. "Ill just call you 'Seion then. How's that?" She smiled back. "It's wonderful, thank you!" She hugged him happily, forgetting the pain in her legs for the moment. She had made a friend, the first friend she had ever had! She had met Taruk, her ice-eyed guardian._

__

Tika woke in the middle of the night to find tears rolling down her face.

**Sorry the end was so sorta suckish. And I hope I got King Juliens character right, since he was in this chapter. **

**Well, that's chap. 3. I hope you liked it. I have no idea when I'll update, but hopefully soon. See, or read you later!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay, readers. RaphaelsLittleSister here. Chapter four is up! I' am genuinely sorry that it took so long. High School is really kicking my butt. At art school things are intense. We have to learn at such a fast pace and we get so much homework. But here it is. I will be introducing two new characters in this chapter; I hope you will find that agreeable. If not…, well, too bad. *evil smile***

**Okay, I do not own POM, blah blah blah. **

**Reviews wanted, dead or alive. Flames welcome. They will be used to roast chile peppers and burn homework ( JK ).**

**Alright, on with the story! **

It was still dark out when they arrived. The two of them looked up at the walls of the zoo towering over them. They glanced at each other and the shorter of the two said, "Are you sure this is it?"

"Quite sure. This is Central Park Zoo. All our files and insiders have pointed us here. This has to be the place." A doubtful look flickered over the face of the speaker's companion. "I guess you have a point, but it doesn't seem like the sort of place he'd end up in. That's all. I mean- it's so," he searched for the right words. "low-key around here." The other shrugged. "All the more reason to come here. No one _would_ expect to find him here; therefore he _won't_ expect anyone to find him at all. Do you see now?"

The sun began to appear over the walls of the zoo and it cast a sharp relief on the features of the two animals outside. They were both penguins, neither of them particularly tall; they had rather average apparels. The shorter penguin, who had green eyes and a rounder stature, cast his gaze down. "Yes. Remind me why we're doing this."

His blue eyed comrade sighed. "Because, now that we've found him, we might be able to get enough dirt on him to bring him down from his pedestal. We just have to get him to trust us and eventually we'll find something we can use against him."

"I guess. But what has he ever done to us? What has he ever done wrong?" The smaller bird found himself pinned to the wall of the zoo, his associate glaring at him, his voice deadly low. "Need I remind you what he did to me in Denmark? Need I repeat that he is the cause of my shameful demotion and loss of respect that has taken me years to rebuild? Need I explain it all _again_?" He waited and his eyes narrowed. "Well?" The terrified penguin beneath him shook his head franticly and whimpered. "No."

"Good." The larger penguin shoved his subordinate to the ground and started walking towards the gate. "Now come on. We have to get inside before the people start showing up and ruin everything. I will not wait any longer!"

The bird on the ground stood painfully and hung his head as he followed the other penguin to the gates. He had no choice and he knew it. As the sun finally rose above the horizon completely, he sighed. He only hoped that the Skipper could hold out against his commander…for all their sakes.

XXXXXXX

Skipper woke up with the instant feeling that not all was as it should have been. He looked around; saw Tika asleep on the couch, all his men still in their bunks. So what was it? He got up and looked at the time. He had slept in by five minutes. Sighing he rubbed his head. He may as well let the team get a bit more rest. Casting one last look around his concrete home he exited thought the fishbowl entrance. He was going to find the source of his unease.

XXXXXXXX

The rest of the team came to not long after, and their first thought was food. Tika limped more heavily than usual to the kitchen, after hiding the pillow that had a large damp spot on it. She didn't want anyone to thing she drooled, god forbid, but she would never tell them what made the wet patch. She sat and winced when she jostled her leg. This seemed to remind the others of her current predicament and they helped her out of the HQ. "Oh dear. I can't believe we forgot about Tika's leg." Private hid his face for a moment and Rico hung his head. Kowalski heaved a breath. "Rico, Private, stay her and start drills, or…or something. I'm going to take Tika to the clinic." He helped her back up and supported her considerable weight as best as he could. They exited the habitat and waddled carefully across the zoo.

Rico looked at the young penguin and shrugged. Together they went inside. It seemed like a good morning to make smoothies and sushi. Skipper might even get some if he was quick and got back soon.

In fact, he was back a lot sooner than he thought. Having been unable to find the cause of his distress, he had returned home. "Men, something's not right about this place today. I want everyone on their guard. Don't let up for a second. For all we know, well, it could be radioactive waves coming from my nemesis, Dr. Blowhole's underwater base, or it could be spies, spies crawling all over the zoo. Our zoo! Remember boys, we are the thin line that separates the cute and naïve civilians of this zoo from the countless dangers of the outside world." Rico and Private blinked and looked at him. It might have been their imaginations, but Skipper seemed a little more 'on edge', so to speak, than usual.

Skipper face palmed and sat down with his coffee. He checked the clock. The zoo opened in half an hour and they hadn't gotten any of their drills done. Oh well, it could wait, he supposed. Just not long.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Tika was on a table, where a friendly looking, dark-skinned man was checking her leg. He poked it in several places, causing her discomfort. However, when he was done he smiled. "Well, my little friend, I have news for you. You leg is fine. You just sprained it, that's all. Go easy on your ankle for a few days and you should be good as new." She breathed a sigh of relief. She was so glad that Kowalski had been wrong for once. She couldn't imagine weeks of nothing but sitting around. She was carried back to the habitat, Kowalski tailing behind the doctor. She was able to walk on her own; thanks to a small dose of painkiller she had been given.

They entered the HQ with just fifteen minutes until the zoo opened. Skipper faced them and gave a similar rant as to the one he had given Rico and Private. They sat down and horked down some sushi and smoothies. Just as they were about to relax for the last ten minutes of peace, a noise came from up top. Skipper and his team, Tika, limp and all included, leapt out onto the floe. "What in the name of maple syrup? What are you doing here?"

A tall blue-eyed penguin stepped forward, and Tika noted with distaste that he walked with a swagger in his step. Skipper signaled silently to his team, and they all stood at sharp attention as he looked the newcomer over. "We're here to inspect this unit and HQ." Said the penguin, who then added smugly, "orders from the top." Skipper's eyes narrowed visibly. "I don't see why they would send you here, as you can see, all of my troops are in fine working order, as is my base."

"Yes, but I notice that you seem to have taken on a couple new recruits without authorization." Tika and Private shuffled nervously. "You of all animals should know that's against the rules." He paused, "I'm just here telling you my orders, but if you want to refuse, I can always report you for court-martial." The shorter penguin looked like he was going to explode. "Fine, come in and we'll exchange pleasantries there. But I want to make one thing very clear. You do. Not. Make. Trouble. in. my. Zoo." The unnamed bird nodded curtly. "But of course. Pippin? Come along." Behind him, a small penguin waddled behind him shyly.

In the base, with five minutes until opening, the penguins sat down around the small table. Or rather, Pippin, Private, Rico, Kowalski, and Tika stood behind their respective leaders, who were seated tersely at the table. "Well then, Skipper, it is good to see you again."

"The pleasure is all yours, Perseus. I can't say I had hoped to see your ugly beak again." Perseus stiffened and Skipper had to stifle a smile. "Allow me to introduce you to Pippin, my _faithful_ subordinate." At the emphasis put on the word 'faithful' Tika saw Skipper tense up in turn, and wondered why. Skipper gestured to each of them, in order of their rank.

"This is Kowalski, First Lieutenant, and strategist. Rico, my demolition and weapons experts. Here we have young Private, our Private, First Class. And finally, Tika. She's not a full member yet, hasn't even taken the phsyc evaluation, but she has potential. These penguins are skilled, brave, and loyal to a fault. I couldn't ask for a better team."

"Hm, I see. At some point or another you will have to demonstrate this. I would so _love_ to see you and you team in action." Skipper opened his mouth to retort, but at that moment, a blow-up between the two commanders was prevented by the bell. So instead he said, "Well, nice to see you, NOT. If you'll excuse us though, we have business to attend to." He turned his back on Perseus's scowling face. With that, all of them leapt out the exit, even Tika.

Perseus turned to Pippin. "Get me something to eat."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"I don't like it. Surely Command Central would have let you know they were coming?" Skipper shook his head and muttered out of the corner of his beak. "Just keep an eye on them. I don't trust Perc' or one feather on his avian hein-winker. Now, cute and cuddly men, cute and cuddly." Skipper turned and waved for the people, all the while his mind on the threat that Perseus could present. He would just have to keep an eye, or two, on the wily penguin. It would be just like his to try something through one of Skippers team. He made a note to watch them as well.

Tika dove into the water, the cool liquid soothing her leg. It was so easy to cut through water, she could forget she injured at all. She began to swim in circles and perform underwater aerobics, much to the glee to the onlookers. They clapped happily and she caught a particularly buttery piece of popcorn in her beak as she leapt. She turned and faced the team, beckoning them into the water. Rico was the first to join her. Together they played a game of tag until Private and Kowalski splashed next to them. Skipper stopped what he was doing and watched his team play. For a moment, all the worries he knew they all carried on their backs seemed to wash away with the water, as they concerned themselves only with their own enjoyment.

Rico sliced through the water, when a small plop interrupted his play. A zoo hand, who had never seen the penguins behaving this exuberantly, had thrown a live fish into the water. He became aware of Tika chasing after it by his side, and together, until the others noticed it, it was just them, the water, and the fish. Tika's feathers brushed against his and everything vanished.

He could only hear the rushing of water more vast and powerful than anything in the zoo. Above him he was aware of a strange sound, like something rumbling as it crashed together. Ice, he realized vaguely. There were other noises too, a subtle splashing, not unlike the one of a fellow penguin swimming beside you, but more muffled, and a roar of motion in his ears. He felt bubbles tickling his belly as they rose to the surface of…wherever he was. The sound of laughter made him open his eyes.

A penguin raced past him, and another was headed straight for him. He failed to dodge, but it made no difference. She just whizzed right through him…literally. The two penguins swan in circles around each other, and Rico dully registered they were playing. Air bubbles trailed behind them as they zipped by. He tried everything to get their attention, but they didn't seem to see him. The larger of the two, a male, raced past him, just slow enough for Rico to see the grin on its beak. The female wasn't far behind, and Rico saw as she went right through him for a second time that she had bright purple eyes,

A fish, small and silver, foolishly made itself known. The two mystery penguins streaked after it with all the speed of deadly missiles. Together, with the bubble trails in their wake, they looked like they were creating a sea serpent of legend. The male snapped at the fish, missing by an inch, but the girl had his back. She lunged forward and trapped the small prey. Rico admired the grace with which she propelled herself through the water.

Suddenly everything went dark again and hear could hear people chattering, again, the deep roar of the ice and ocean was gone. All of it…gone. He was back at the zoo…it he had ever left it at all. The whole strange encounter had taken place in the span of seconds…what had happened to him? He shook his head and looked around. None of the other penguins seemed to have noticed anything. Tika and the others were racing after the fish, while Skipper and the people were watching them go around and around. He hopped out of the water onto the concrete. Skipper saw him enter the HQ, but said nothing. Rico avoided the guests with easy and made his way to the bathroom.

He shut the door and locked himself in. He dried his feathers off with a cloth, and shuddered, he tasted salt water in his mouth. Then he looked in the mirror. Shock hit him like a tidal wave. A moment ago, in that strange ghost world…he had been looking at a younger version of himself!

**AN: Cliff hanger! MUAHAHAHAWAHAHA! **

**What are these visions Rico is seeing, is he going crazy(er). What is going on?**

**Who are these penguins and what do they want with Skipper? **

**Find out in future chapters of this story as you encourage me to continue! JK.**

**Until next time! XD**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello people! I am very sorry that this took me so long, and that despite that, it will be shorter than usual. It got to the point where I just decided to post since it felt like I couldn't go any further with this chapter. So, yeah, sorry that this chapter won't be quite as 'up to scratch' so to speak as they have and will be in the future. But please enjoy what there is and If you don't like it, flames are welcome (will be used to keep my house warm this winter), as are critiques. Thank you!**

Tika and Kowalski were sitting together in the lab, she was handing him various needed materials for the thing he was working on. "Who those penguyens that stay here now? Percus n' Pippe'?" Kowalski answered without looking up. "Oh, some penguins Skipper used to know. They're just checking things out. Ha, as if they even need bother looking in here, all my work is Grade-A science!"

"…Why?" This time he turned to look at her, and realized that the presence of Perceus and his subordinate had greatly disturbed her. It must have been because they watched her so closely, being an unofficial recruit, and unauthorized at that. Kowalski decide to tell the truth. "Well Tika, the truth is, they're trying to get Skipper in trouble with the higher ups. They're watching us all to see how we run this place, and how good we are. They're going to use anything and everything they can get to put Skipper in the mud." He looked at her, dead serious, "We all have to be at our best while they're here. If we mess up...if _you_ mess up, Skipper loses his command."

She nodded, for once truly understanding how much of this rested on her illicit membership being no less than perfect. She thought hard for a moment before saying, "They gonna think Tika stupid, she no talk good. Tika gonna get Skippeh in trouble." She pouted sadly at the thought of this. "Why Tika no talk good? She stupid?" Alarmed, Kowalski, whom was not very good at dealing with emotions, was unsure of how to react. "No, you're not 'stupid', if I had to give an analysis of you in front of the high command itself, I would say you are perfectly intelligent. As far as I can tell you have no major disfunctionalities of the brain." For some reason, his supposedly comforting words did nothing to cheer her up. Seeing this, he sat down next to her and slung one of his lengthy flippers around her shoulders.

"You talk fine, Tika,"

She sniffled a bit and said, "Kohalski really think so?" He nodded and she snuggled into his slender figure. "If Kohalski say Tika talk fine, must be true." She was relaxing slightly, tension that had been building up since the visitors had come dissipating rapidly, and Kowalski noticed how tired she looked. In an effort to get as far away from their guests as possible, Tika had taken to sleeping on the floor, next to the wall opposite the couch. He figured that must have had something to do with it. Tika curled up against him a little more, comforted by his warm feathers pressed against her, and rubbed her face into his chest sleepily. Beneath his feathers Kowalski blushed a little bit, but wrapped his flippers around her anyways.

Before long, they were both dreaming their own dreams, and snoring softly. Behind the door, which was hanging slightly ajar, a pair of eyes narrowed gleefully, and in a flash of light, was gone.

XXXXXXXX

About an hour later, Tika opened her eyes slowly, taking in her surroundings. She was in Kowalski's lab…Kowalski! She sat upright, nearly knocking the other penguin off of the bench they had been sitting on. She caught him just as he began to fall, and propped him up against his work desk. He hadn't woken up and she sighed in relief, rubbing the back of her neck. She quietly crept out of the lab and shut the door behind her. As she walked to the kitchen, she noted that Perceus was glaring at her smugly, and she shot a glare back at him. He merely shook his head and exited the HQ.

Her eyes followed him warily and she too exited the room. She entered the bright sunlight to see that most of the people were gathered around the lemur habitat that day. She glanced over at the chimps and sighed with relief when she saw no humans were there. Tika looked around furtively before slipping between the bars around the enclosure and sliding over to the primates. If she wasn't able to talk when everyone else could, she would be the first in the team to learn to read!

XXXXXXXXXX

"Tika! Where did you run of to, soldier?" Skipper gazed at the empty headquarters. He check Rico's bunk-Tika had a habit of catching quick naps there-he checked under the couch, where she had taken to hiding from the newcomers, and she wasn't in the lab either. Frustrated, he turned and leapt out the fishbowl opening. Where could she have gone? It wasn't like he was the type to hand out days off, and she knew they had to be in top notch performance. His head snapped towards the sound of singing, coming from the chimpanzee's habitat. His blue eyes narrowed and he evaded some children in an effort to make his way over.

"A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, Peh-! Skippeh! Tika not think you come here so soon! She think you busy doing other things, not think you notice she gone!" For someone as flustered as Tika was in that moment, she kept from stuttering rather well, though she was clearly abashed at having been found after sneaking off like she had. He slapped her in fine Skipper fashion to stop her from drawing attention with her babble. She hung her head. "Tika sorry. She knows she not supposed to sneak like that." She somehow managed to look up at him, pitifully ashamed looking, despite the fact that she was taller than he was. "Tika in trouble? Will the other penguyens be mad with you? Tika really sorry! She just want learn how read!" The more she talked, the more Skipper felt his anger fading. She was clearly very apologetic.

All his irritation evaporated with her words. It was impossible to stay angry with a child, and though she could not have been much younger than him, her naiveté about their world made her seem like one. He sighed and smacked his flipper to his forehead. "Fine, I'm not angry. I'm still going to move you to the yellow space for today though. What were you thinking, running off like that? A crisis could take place at any moment and you have to be prepared." She nodded and he started back towards their own habitat. She waved goodbye to Phil and Manson before following him silently, her head bowed.

When they returned, Skipper had the uneasy feeling that Perceus knew something he didn't. He shook it off and waved to the few people that passed by. Rico was next to him, oddly subdued. He had been behaving that way for a couple of days now, a far-off look in his eyes as though he was forgetting something, and trying to remember what it was. Skipper couldn't figure out for the life of him what it could have been. Private was to his left, waving and shaking his tail. When Kowalski joined them at last, he was still rubbing sleep out of his eyes, and Skipper mentally accused his subordinate of staying up past curfew again. Why was everyone acting so strange lately?

XXXXXXXXXX

Pippen shuffled his feet nervously. "Honsest, Sir, that's what I saw! The girl snuck away to …I dunno what for, but when the Skipper found her, He wasn't even really mad at her. They just came back here." Perceus narrowed his eyes gleefully. "Ha, at last, a penguin is foolish enough to let her commander down without even realizing how it will affect her! From affairs within the team to behaving like only a double agent would, this 'Tira' has our cause locked in a nutshell for us, and we haven't even been here two weeks! The fool, how could Skipper have let his guard down so easily with her? He's gone soft. That will make my job all the easier!"

"Um, sir? I think her name is Tika, not Tir-." He was silenced by a heavy kick to the side of his head, and the small penguin stumbled backwards. "I don't care what her name is, fool! She's just another pawn for me to use in this game we're playing, a pawn I will use to bring Skipper to his knees and put the 'king' in checkmate!"

**I hoped you liked it! The end of this chapter was just one of those ends where you don't know where to go from there, so I just ended it like that. Sorry. **


End file.
